In an environment of increased anti-transgender hysteria and hateful rhetoric, it gives me a great deal of pride to announce the growth of TransAction Florida, Equality Florida's Transgender Inclusion Initiative.

TransAction Florida denounces the unfounded attacks on transgender Floridians. We are growing our advisory council to counter the orchestrated discrimination against the transgender community emerging in the areas of school board policy, human rights ordinances, transgender violence, and the most recent attacks centered around bathroom issues.

Tristan Byrnes, St. Petersburg

Aryah Lester, Miami

Tricia Russell, Jacksonville

Ashley Brundage, Tampa

Amy Garbati, West Palm Beach

Nathan S. Bruemmer, Largo

Bishop Makalani-MaHee, Ft. Lauderdale

Devin Cole, Pensacola

Cindy Sullivan, Sarasota

Grant Drain, Tampa

Deborah Johnson, Pensacola

Gina Duncan, Orlando

Harmony Weisbart, Orlando

SueZie Hawkes, Brandon

Samuel Thayer, Dundee

Jessica Lam, Ft. Lauderdale

Kaitlin Legg, Jacksonville

Morgan Laisch, Orlando

Synthia Roy, Jacksonville

Tobias Packer, Ft. Lauderdale

Tracy Schmidt, Cocoa

Margeaux Mutz, Tallahassee

Petra Doan, Tallahassee

It has never been more important for us to be visible and engaged. It is time to be pro-active in pushing back against the hateful rhetoric being promoted by organizations, such as the Liberty Counsel, in all areas of our state and country.

In the coming weeks, we hope to provide increased education, media, and messaging training to increase the number of experienced spokespeople in our Transgender Speakers Bureau. Our goal is to expand the scope and bandwidth of our statewide council to effectively address any issues encountered across the state.